Prime Minister's Office
English rendering of PM’S Speech at Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
Victory to Baba Vishwanath, Mother Annapurna and Mother Ganga! Har Har Mahadev!
I am fortunate that today the age-old dreams of Kashi Vishwanath Dham have been fulfilled. When I was not into politics, I had visited this place a number of times. At that time I used to feel that something must be done for this place. Probably Bhole Baba had decided the fate for me – ‘My Son, you talk a lot. Come and put your words into action'. You may call it Bhole Baba's direction or blessing that this is the beginning of that dream's realization. This Kashi Vishwanath Dham in a way is the occasion of Bhole Baba's liberation. Our Lord was closeted within the four walls. I am not sure for how long He was trapped and had tough time breathing. Now, for the first time, several adjoining buildings were acquired. Not only will Bhole Baba be liberated but the devotees too will have a great experience.
I had been the Chief Minister for several years and had seen several government officials. When the government entrusts any task, the officials put all their efforts to accomplish it. But today I am really proud to say that the team of government employees that Yogi ji has engaged, is sincerely doing the work with complete dedication and devotion day in and day out. It was an arduous task to acquire property, to explain it to everyone, working together with everyone and preventing the opponents from spreading lies and also taking care of the fact that this project doesn't get trapped into a political quagmire. This entire job has been done by this team of officers. I congratulate and thank them for this commendable job today!
We had requested the owners of the properties in this area if they could give up this place for the Lord's work. Almost 300 properties were acquired. Despite opposition from a few people, their cooperation with the government and their faith in the government by giving up their invaluable premises and submitting to the feet of Lord is the greatest sacrifice. Those people have made the greatest donation and as a Parliamentarian representing this region, I am extremely grateful to them. I congratulate them and thank them for cooperating with the government's work as their own work and helping to fulfil this dream.
This place had been a target of the enemies for several centuries. It had been demolished multiple times and was non-existent but the faith and devotion of the people of this place have revived and reincarnated it and have given a new birth. This has been going on for centuries. When Mahatma Gandhi had visited this place, even he was pained to see Bhole Baba's place in a poor condition. He could not stop himself from expressing this pain during his speech at BHU. After some days, that incident will be completing 100 years.
About 250 years back, Ahilya Devi had initiated its reconstruction. Only then this place had got a proper shape. Ahilya Devi had played a major role. Even at Somnath, Ahilya Devi had played a crucial role. Absorbed in the devotion of Shiva, Ahilya Devi used to engage in this work apart from managing the state. It has been about 250 years. Did anyone ever give a thought to Bhole Baba during these years? No! Everyone thought of self-interest. While demolishing the buildings, we came to realize that more than 40 temples were trapped within these houses; some had been converted to kitchens and what not! It was only for Bhole Baba to ignite that consciousness within us that this dream could be fulfilled now. Not just Bhole Baba but more than 40 such temples of historic and archaeological importance were discovered. When people from within India and around the world will visit this Dham, they will be enthralled by this work of a few people! The governance system was silent for the past 70 years. They kept on suppressing these things. However, today even these 40 temples will be liberated. And I was told that after several decades Shivaratri was celebrated at such a grand scale here. It was an open and spacious complex and had a huge gathering of devotees. Thousands of people were taking selfies here. Check out your social media accounts. You will see lakhs of photographs of this complex. It was a dream. You can see the model and the film. Now Mother Ganga has been directly associated with Lord Shiva. Now we can directly submit ourselves to the feet of Lord Shiva after taking bath in Mother Ganga.
This place of Kashi Vishwanath Mahadev, Bhole Baba, is a devotional place for crores of people. People come to Kashi and the root cause is the tremendous respect that they have for Kashi Vishwanath Mahadev. That faith will be further strengthened now. A model will be prepared to protect our temples and to have a proper system in place. The construction of this complex has clearly exhibited how modernity could be brought in by preserving the archeological artifacts and keeping their souls intact. This Kashi Vishwanath Dham will be known as the outer complex of Kashi Vishwanath temple and will take us to the Ganga. This Dham will connect us with Mother Ganges. This will create a new identity of Kashi in the whole world. After about 250 years, probably the Lord had written down this work in my destiny. And therefore, when we got elected in 2014, a voice from within had told me - 'I have not come here on my own, I have been called!' And today it seems to me that the call was for such a work; and the resolution for such work has become more strong and accentuated. This is not just related to the people of Kashi but also to the people of the entire nation. I would like to request Banaras Hindu University to conduct a case study on the entire concept of reconstruction of Kashi Vishwanath Dham; its processes and procedures; the way property was acquired; the way people had cooperated and so on. Let the Dham be built on one hand while this research work can go on simultaneously so that once the work is completed, we have a volume to present before the world about the kind of complex that we have developed, the procedures and the people involved in it. It can create a wonderful documentation. We have followed everything according to the scriptures. No compromise has been made in this regard. We have done this work abiding by the scriptures so that there is no negative impact on devotion in any way.
Today this Kashi Vishwanath Dham is going to be the center of a new consciousness of Composite Kashi and of social consciousness. When this belief becomes the center of social consciousness, then it creates an opportunity for social revolution. Such an auspicious work is being done here today. I once again congratulate Yogi ji's government. Had I received the cooperation of the state government in the first three years, then probably we could have inaugurated this today. But during the first three years, I had no cooperation from the then state government, so I could not do it. But since the time you elected Yogi ji's government, every work in Kashi has been facilitated and we have got the opportunity to complete all the work. I am convinced that we will fulfil the aspirations of the people of Kashi and similarly will take care of these 40 temples that have been excavated. We will work to enhance its magnificence. After the excavation of these archaeological artifacts, BHU can conduct study and find out how old they are, how many decades or centuries old? When were these constructed and so on! Then both the soul of Kashi and these systems will go hand-in-hand. Once again I bow down to the Mother's feet and the Lord's feet. With the blessings of the people of Kashi, this auspicious work is about to begin.
Say along with me –
Har Har Mahadev!!